Getting the most out of 'Grapes'

Michigan State University director Ann Folino White discusses her techniques of working with actors and the importance of dramaturgy

It’s the largest cast she has ever directed. However, AnnFolino White is confident that her cast of 40 actors and musicians in “TheGrapes of Wrath” is ready for an audience. It certainly helps that her periodof expertise is performance during the Great Depression. From new script readerfor the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago to actor to dramaturge and director atMichigan State University, Folino White has extensive experience on and off thestage. Folino White spoke this week about the challenges of directing ashow like “The Grapes of Wrath” at the collegiate level, the skills she teachesher students, and how her actor training and scholarly passion inform herdirecting style.

How is directing acollegiate theatrical production unique?

AFW: When I direct a show at the university, I am workingwith new (and advanced) undergraduate students, design and acting graduatestudents, and my fellow faculty, who are professionals in the field. With that combinationof people and skill levels, I try to treat all of them as collaborators. I tryto model professionalism. We run our rehearsals and performances with thestandards of (Actors’) Equity and professional companies so that our studentsget used to those standards of practice. We do a lot of peer mentoring.

At the same time, we instruct students on what the standardsof practice are. One thing that I really try to do is emphasize to students thatthey need to take ownership for their artistry. By that I mean they need to makechoices. Then my job both as the director and as the educator is to tell themwhy a particular choice works and why it doesn’t. I’m trying to give themindependence and gentle guidance toward that independence.

Do you tailor yourdirection to different skill levels?

AFW:Actorsprocess and work in all different ways. Sometimes it’s just based on who theyare and sometimes it’s based on skill level. I expect the same standard ofexcellence from all of them. At the same time, I work to tailor my vocabulary.Directors need to have an incredible, flexible vocabulary. For some actors,metaphors work; for some actors, making them stand up against a wall or layingon a floor, or whatever. Certain things work for certain actors and as adirector, you need to get to know your actors well enough to learn what kind ofvocabulary works for them.

How do you think yourexperience as an actor informed your style of direction? Do you think it isnecessary to have experience as an actor first before becoming a director?

AFW: I don’t know if it’s necessary, but it has deeply impactedmy directing style. I direct through physical action. I cannot sit down todirect. I move through the blocking with the actors. I like to make them workwith physical touch and focus on proximities of bodies in space. Because for me,the way in which images and meaning is made on the stage is through the way inwhich the bodies are interacting and responding to one another. I leave much ofthe emotional work to the actor. ‘OK, so he’s sad. Fine. Or he’s upset aboutsomething. How does that manifest on his body? Is he a yeller? Is he a brooder?Does he pace? What kind of effect does it have on the body?’

What does a dramaturgedo?

AFW: It depends on the director that you’re working with.They have all sorts of jobs. They often are readers of new plays. But whenthey’re working on a particular production, they are both the director’sprimary researcher and the director’s critical audience. For “The Grapes ofWrath,” my dramaturge researched the pronunciations of certain cities, shemapped the route of Route 66, researched terms that actors might be unfamiliarwith — anything that will help research-wise to realize that world to give you more informed actors and designers. A dramaturgealso serves as that critical audience in the way in which he or she willsuggest to the director if what they have staged actually reads to an audience,or if it’s in line with the structure of the play, in line with the genre ofthe play.

How has your pastexperience as a dramaturge influenced your directing style?

AFW: I work through that text like crazy, which is me beinga dramaturge and a scholar of theater. I work very closely with, not only thecontent of a play, but its structure (the dramaturgical structure, the materialworld it’s trying to create). And I keep bringing the actors back to the textagain and again.

As a dramaturge, haveyou ever found historical inaccuracies in a script? Do they matter? If not,what does?

AFW: I think in part it depends on the content of theplay.If historical accuracy orreality matter, that’s one thing. Most often that is not a major issue, but it’sabout an issue of clarity, I guess, of vision. Anne Bogart, famous theaterdirector, I may be misquoting her, but she talks about how the only thing thatmatters in a play is the consistency of the world that you’ve created. Thatworld can have any rules. You can have a world like “Peter Pan” where there’sfairies and little boys that never grow up, as long as those rules of the worldare respected throughout. So, you can live in a place with zero gravity, youcan live in the Dust Bowl where you have a car — such as we do in “The Grapesof Wrath” — that never moves as we make this journey across the country. But aslong as we stay consistent in the rules that that world has, the world can bemade up any way we wish.

How do you deal with “difficultto direct” actors?

AFW: I work very hard to model collaboration. I say, “Thereis nothing wrong with saying ‘I am good at what I do.’ However, there issomething wrong if you can’t admit that you don’t know what you’re doing.” Itell them, I’m a really good director. I’m a good teacher because I value it.But if you ask me a question and I don’t know the answer to it, the worst thingI can do is pretend like I did (know). And the best thing I can do is tell you,“I don’t know, but I’ll work hard to find out,” or “let’s work on ittogether.”’ I think that kind of attitude helps the actors, it breaks down thatwall of insecurity that comes off as arrogance or that comes off as un-directableor unwilling to take a note.

Is there one lessonthat you’ve taken from someone you admire?

AFW: The one thing that does stick with me is from my graduatework. The chair of my dissertation, the head of the program that I was in,demanded excellence. Her criticism was always about making the work better. Itwas honest and it was straightforward. She would work as hard for you as youworked for yourself. I think that kind of dedication and investment in studentsis one thing that I value that she taught me.